Maria Bierganz

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Maria Bierganz , married. Janke (born October 25, 1927 in Cologne ; † May 7, 2013 ) is a former BDM squad leader who hit the headlines around the world in autumn 1944 as Mary of Monschau or Maria of Monschau as the prototype of the fanatical Hitler Youth .

Life

Bierganz was born in Cologne as the daughter of an accountant and a devout Catholic. Her family was rather skeptical of the National Socialist ideology . Since Maria (who started school in 1933) experienced her entire training under the sign of National Socialism, she was indoctrinated along the lines. The girl was impressed by the corps spirit of the Hitler Youth and the pompous parades in Cologne. After the family moved to Monschau , she joined the local BDM group and was involved in the first aid service, the care of war refugees and the air warning.

The area on the left bank of the Rhine around Aachen was one of the first German territories to be captured by the Americans in the course of their advance into the German Empire . While the majority of the population was at least calmly looking forward to the occupation, the ideal basis of their previous life collapsed for the young people. Maria Bierganz did not want to come to terms with the new situation. She met a small group of close friends from the BDM to make fun of the Americans and wrote down her thoughts in a diary . These entries were written to her friend Peter, who was killed during the Ardennes offensive . The diary was drawn up entirely in keeping with National Socialist ideology. Again and again there was talk of the "acts of glory" of the German soldiers and the "cowardly Americans". She also criticized the neighbors who came to terms with the new situation. The fact that an American soldier prevented her from stepping on a mine did nothing to change her view of things. Essentially, however, her naive texts were not resistance to the occupiers, but an expression of the struggle against one's own despair.

The Americans saw it quite differently, however. Even in the run-up to the offensive against Germany, the Allied intelligence services had come to the conclusion that a hard guerrilla war was to be feared on German territory , which was to be waged primarily by the indoctrinated Hitler Youth. The establishment of the Volkssturm and the speeches of the Nazi giants about the “Volkskampf” reinforce this assessment, which later turned out to be completely unrealistic. During a house search, the US soldiers finally found Bierganz's diary, the diction of which seemed to confirm the dire fears. Maria Bierganz was arrested on January 6, 1945 around noon. She was dragged from office to office and interrogated, but there was no evidence of her, so there was not even a charge.

After the arrest, the British press took up the subject of the treacherous Mary of Monschau . The rainbow press inflated the incident, which in turn provided Goebbels ' Propaganda Ministry with excellent ammunition for the perseverance slogans. In a radio speech, Goebbels stylized the girl into a folk heroine who would have stood before an American court martial and accused her accusers of their crimes in "holy anger" . Even the American Time Magazine dedicated an article to the Maria of Monschau on February 26, 1945 under the heading World .

Ultimately, none of what was reported in the press or through propaganda was true; the guerrilla war feared or hoped for by the Nazis was nothing more than a phantom. Goebbels radio speech remained - in retrospect - ignored by the target group.

At the end of February 1945, Bierganz was at United States Army headquarters in Spa . By then, at the latest, it was clear to the Americans that they were by no means dealing with a dangerous underground leader. They tried to persuade Bierganz to work in the service of the Americans as an expert for German youth. She refused, but at the beginning of March made a radio appeal to her compatriots to warn them of senseless and risky actions.

Maria Bierganz came back to Monschau on March 4, 1945. After the war she married and wrote down her experiences at the turn of the year 1944/45.

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1] Himmler's last list: The Nazi organization "Werewolf", p. 65
personal data
SURNAME All beer, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Maria of Monschau; Mary of Monschau; Janke, Maria (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German BDM squad leader who was a symbol of the feared fanatical Hitler Youth in 1944/45
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH May 7, 2013